Remembering to Say Goodbye
by Razgriz Ace
Summary: "In nine-hundred years you are the best mate I ever had." 10 and Donna get a proper farewell. (Missing scene from 'The End of Time')


A/N: I'm a recently converted Whovian, who was crushed by the season 4 finale. I don't own any of them I'm just using fanfiction to give closure to the fictional people I care way too much about. ;)

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Honestly, The Doctor hadn't meant to give the man such a fright. Edgar Temple was currently holding on to a wall in order to stay upright. The knowledge that his great grandmother had been telling the truth about his grandmother and the spaceman in the blue police box had been a lot to absorb.

After Donna and her husband had won half a billion dollars in the lotto they had become two of Britain's finest philanthropists. Her imagination had always been her strongest asset and with Shaun Temple the dreamer at her side they had brought about the future golden age that Harriet Jones had been unable to realize. Her grandson, despite currently having to breathe heavily into a paper sack, was on his second term in parliament. Many thought he was to be prime minister one day. The intense pain coursing through The Doctor's body was momentarily numbed by the feeling of joy that she had been truly happy.

It was a lovely estate, a large house built on rolling green land. The inside of the Temple-Noble residence was just as impressive as the outside. The décor managed to project the feeling of importance without excess which was, in The Doctor's opinion, quite a feat. The Doctor left Edgar trying to catch his breath in the main hall and made his way upstairs.

He crept into the bedroom and gingerly sat into an overstuffed chair. The extremely elderly Donna Temple-Noble lay sleeping soundly in her bed. The hospice said that her heart was giving out. Old age finally getting the better of the toughest women he had the privilege of meeting in ten lifetimes.

"Oh, you have had an incredible life," he whispered to her bedside.

A green eye popped open. "Who the bloody hell are you?" the raspy voice sounded nothing like the one belonging to his best friend, but the tone was unmistakably Donna.

Startled, he replied without thinking. "I'm The Doctor."

A growl escaped her throat. "No more doctors. Edgar promised. You'd think my grandson would let a hundred and four year old woman have some peace," she scowled in his direction.

He laughed. A hundred and four and she hadn't changed. She blinked at him. "Don't worry. I'm not here to treat you," he told her. "I'm here to ask you something."

"Me? Listen if you want a donation for your hospital my son-"

"No nothing like that," he cut her off. "This is a personal question."

"I'm sorry do I know you?" she asked.

"Yes."

"How?"

"I'll get to that. Can I ask you a question?"

"Not much I can do to stop you is there?"

"Would you like to come on an adventure with me?" he asked.

"Son, are you daft? I haven't left this bed for anything but the bath in a year." Her words were slow and labored, and he could hear how very tired she was. His palms were sweating as the regeneration energy pressed within him. He had to get to the point.

"You just asked how we know one another. I can show you. I can show you what excellent partners we were. Donna your legacy stretches so much farther than Britain. It goes straight out to the stars. If you let me show you we can leave here together and I can take you anywhere you could hope to imagine," he said.

She looked dubious, but hope ignited in her eyes. "Where's the rub?" she asked.

"It will most certainly kill you." He felt he might have failed in his attempt to not sound grim.

She scoffed quite loudly and he smiled wildly as it further confirmed that she was still the woman he knew. "Doctor in case you haven't noticed my time is already short. Please don't waste any more of it."

"Don't act like it's ridiculous. You know it's not. In your very soul you believe in touching the stars."

"I think you should leave now Doctor," she said. She turned her frail body away from him as a dismissal.

"Throughout your life you've had moments - these fleeting little moments - feelings that you've forgotten something terribly important. Like that itch in your mind when you think you may have left the kettle on, only amplified to the point where it hurts. Then you just give up trying to remember all together."

Her jaw dropped and her eyes glazed with tears. "How could you possibly know that?"

He doubled over in the chair, a new bout of pain taking over him. "Let me show you."

Closing her eyes, she nodded her consent. With great effort, he pulled himself to her and pressed his forehead to hers. He quickly pulled down the mental blocks he had used to quarantine the memories of 'DoctorDonna'. Pulling away from her he blew just a hint of his regeneration energy at her, boosting the bit of time lord essence already within her.

She grabbed her head and a scream escaped her lips as a familiar gold light engulfed her. A moment later, gasping for air where the old woman had been, was The Doctor's old companion, exactly as she was when they parted. He couldn't contain his smile.

Having gained her bearings Donna sat right up in bed and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"You're damned right Ow!" she exclaimed. "You go blowing that space voodoo at me, and you don't mention it's going to sting?!"

"Donna!" he yelled, unable to contain his excitement. Then they were hugging.

"That's me!" She squeezed him tightly. "A hundred and four years young. It's a shame we can't keep this up. I'd give you a good run for your money Spaceman."

"I've no doubt you would."

She suddenly grabbed her head again, wincing in pain. The seriousness of the situation crashed back with a vengeance. "How long have I got?" she asked. He was impressed by the note of curiosity rather than fear in her voice.

"Not long. A quarter hour. Twenty minutes at most," he said gently.

"How long do you have?"

He didn't bother to ask how she knew. He tried to hold back another convulsion and failed. "Just a little longer than that."

"Well let's not waste it!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the hall at breakneck speed, the belt of her floral print dressing gown flapping comically behind them. "I hoped you parked close." She paused quickly to grab both of Edgar's cheeks and give him a big wet kiss on the forehead. The lanky politician stared dumbly at his rejuvenated grandmother. "Granny's going to have one last escapade," she told him. "No tears now! It's been a good run. Love you!" She continued out the door with the doctor and called over her shoulder, "And tell your father I love him too."

They just managed to catch Edgar's shouted return of sentiment as the TARDIS doors closed behind them. Donna gasped with happiness as she saw the inside of the time machine.

"Hello old girl," she greeted the ship, running her hand affectionately over the brass railing. "Miss me?"

The Doctor thought the lights flickered a little brighter when she entered, but he didn't have the clearest of heads just then.

Donna took in the sight of her unwrinkled hands and laughed. She then examined a bit of the newly red hair that fell into her face and laughed. "Blimey, I've missed this body."

"I'm going to miss this one," he hugged himself in pain again. "Where to?" he asked.

She paused to think for a moment then smiled, "Well, I never did get a good look at those fifteen broken moons."

"Medusa Cascade it is!" He began flipping knobs and turning cranks with fervor. The TARDIS ramped up and they both had a good laugh as they held on tightly as the ship rolled. They settled, the ship floating freely in space.

"Come on," Donna said. She carefully opened the door and sat on the ledge, her legs dangling off the side of the ship. She closed her eyes and put a palm to her head. She opened them again as The Doctor sat down next to her. He was carrying a few glasses and a drink shaker.

"Fancy a Harvey-Walbanger? I had Duke Antone mix them up," he said, pouring a glass.

She laughed at the newly restored memory of The Doctor and Agatha Christie all those years ago. She took the drink from him.

They looked into the cascade, enjoying the near mystic colors while sipping their drinks. "It's so beautiful. You get the best view in the universe from this silly box," she whispered.

"Always," he said, his tears falling freely and silently.

They sat together in comfortable silence for a few moments, just enjoying their reunion and the site before them. Their pain was held in check completely by force of will.

Donna suddenly broke the silence. "The lottery ticket on my wedding day, that was you wasn't it?"

He smiled sheepishly, wiping his eyes on his sleeves. "I borrowed money for it from your father."

"Of course you did," she said rolling her eye. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You did amazing things with that money. I knew you would."

"I don't just mean the money, though the money was nice. I mean thank you for everything," she said. "You told me once that no one knows how they will be remembered, but you gave me that. You saw something in me that no one else ever did and I got to be a savior in the stars because of it. For one madly brilliant instant I got to be the most important woman in the universe. That's not too shabby if you ask me."

He said nothing, but offered her his hand. She clasped it tightly in hers.

"I'm sorry I had to keep it from you for all this time," he apologized.

She waved off his words. "I want you to know that I would do it all over," she told him. "Even now that I know how it ends I wouldn't do anything different. And you better not go sulking and skulking about thinking you messed up my life. You made me so much better. I never wanted to go back to being plain old Donna, but I made the best of it. I've been so very happy."

"Shaun was a good bloke then?" he had to double check.

"The very best," she smiled. "God, did I love that man. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. I certainly did a better job keeping him out of trouble than I ever did with you."

"Well I didn't make it easy did I?"

"Never," she laughed. "Promise me you'll find someone to look after you. Or the newest version of you as it were," she said, rather more staid than before.

"Oh, I don't know about that. It's not like I can just go to the bossy ginger store and pick out another."

She slugged him in the shoulder. "Oi, I'm trying to be serious. Doctor, you're not better on your own. No one is."

"I just don't think I can. Not again."

She shook her head. "You of all people should know that you should always choose loving over avoiding pain. Don't shut yourself off because you fear how it will end. You've never been a coward. Now promise me."

There was a long pause before he nodded his acquiescence. "I promise." His voice choked with emotion and he wiped his eyes again. She nodded her satisfaction. "Thank you, for always saving me," he said. He twitched involuntarily and she put her free hand to her head again. They were running out of time.

"What else are friends for? I love you, you stupid Martian." Her own tears were falling now as she pulled him in for another tight hug. He knew that she didn't fear death, but goodbyes like this were never easy.

He pulled back from the hug to look her in the eyes. "For the last time, I'm from Gallifrey." The correction earned him a playful bump with her shoulder. "I love you too Donna Temple-Noble. In nine-hundred years you are the best mate I ever had."

"In a hundred and four you were mine."

The both wrenched with pain again, this time both audibly calling out. Donna's eyes began to glow. She stood up the golden glow growing around her. He stood beside her.

"It's been an honor," he told her.

"Same to you Doctor," she replied. Staring out the open door of the TARDIS for a few moments she looked back at him, "I feel like I should have some great final words here. Something a little more memorable than goodbye!"

It was the sort of brassy comment that would have annoyed him in times past. Now all he could do was laugh. She clapped her hands together, "I got it." She nodded towards The Doctor, and as the light fully engulfed her she took a running start for the door of the TARDIS. "Geronimo!" she shouted. The golden light exploded into a blinding force that slammed one of the doors closed.

Then Donna Noble was gone. The Doctor closed the second door on the TARDIS and wiped his eyes. He let his hand linger momentarily on the lock.

He smiled.

"Geronimo."

The End.

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A/N: Reviews are welcome! :)

Updated: 3/30 to fix some typos.


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